ALL ABOUT THE CHASE?

Finding the perfect summer cocktail dress is never easy. You want it to be flirty but still appropriate. You want it to be sophisticated but not too sophisticated. This Rebecca Taylor Chase Me Puma-print dress goes in for the kill. Who says the chase is more fun?
www.net-a-porter.com

WHITE HOT

Nothing says summer like white. But pair it with tan, bare shoulders and you've got the makings for a seriously hot night. This tank by Ian R.N. is brilliantly simple with just the right amount of shimmer. Summer, summertime.
www.lagarconne.com

FEAR NOT

I never have dinner parties. They scare me. But I do love setting the table and arranging the flowers. I try to make it pretty enough to distract people from the food. I'm not a cook so feeding a lot of people something good is a frightening endeavor. But I found a really simple chicken recipe that was completely edible. Even a vegetarian guest remarked that it looked and smelled so good that she was tempted to try it. Best compliment I've ever received.
So here it is. If I can cook it, so can you. 


Layer of sliced onions in roasting pan
Layer of sliced lemons on top of onions
Chicken thighs, bone in, skin on, salted with kosher salt and herbs de provence on top of lemons. Cook for 1 hour at 425 degrees.

GET IT

Anyone ever read the children's book, Pinkalicious? There's a line in it that says, "You get what you get and you don't get upset!". While I love the advice and use it regularly on my kids I started to wonder if it's perhaps not such a good message after all. I mean, I don't want my kids to act like a**holes, but at the same time maybe telling them to just take what comes to them and never fight for anything isn't a great message either. Maybe it should be, "Quit your whining. Better luck next time." Maybe that would let them know tantrums suck but being upset and trying to get what you want isn't all that bad either. 

CHEAP TRICK

Sales are great. But not for the reason you think. Yes, you save money, but the more enjoyable benefit is that by the time you wear your special find, there hopefully won't be any left. This makes copying it next to impossible. We love that. Style thieves be damned. 

FULL FLUSH

Best beauty tip EVER. Be around people who make you laugh, and hopefully blush as well. No amount of makeup or perfect application can compare to that. LOL.

JUST DON'T

First off, I like nudity. I do. The human body is beautiful and nothing to be ashamed of. I had both my kids in a tub, buck naked. Underwear is always optional. And nothing is more liberating than swimming naked. However, gratuitous, unwanted, prolonged nudity in a public place is seriously gross. I've had the displeasure of seeing this firsthand at my gym, where a very "natural" woman prefers to hang out nude rather than discreetly and promptly get dressed. She sits on the chairs, the benches, lifts up her legs to apply cream. I hate to be all puritanical about it but modesty might need to make a comeback. 

DON'T BE A TURKEY

My mom always said, "don't forget your neck". At the time, 15, I thought it was sort of a waste of product and time, but I've since come to realize the wisdom she dispensed. Your neck is part of your face, so why treat it any differently? Slather that moisturizer from forehead to collar bones. Even if it won't keep the wrinkles completely away, at least your face and neck will be aging at the same rate. 

ON TOP

Ugh. Yet another thing I got rid of thinking I would never wear them again and now here they are. Although in my defense, mine were a navy blue and these are, well, SPARKLY! If you've got the preppy girl in you, get a pair. Cute pair of shorts, oxford shirt, rope bracelet alongside a Cartier watch. Topsiders and a beautiful yacht to wear them on. What? A girl can dream.
www.sperrytopsider.com 

HEARTBREAK

Why are we so enthralled with the things we can't have? What's the allure? How is it you can be going along totally oblivious and then suddenly something you like catches your eye. You inquire nonchalantly but once you realize you can't have it, you become obsessed to make it yours? Happens over and over. You sort of like the army green jacket but as soon as you think it's gone, it suddenly takes on biblical proportions. And the weird thing is, you never really ever get over it. Years later you will say, "I should have gotten that green jacket when I had the chance!" So if you see something you love, don't hesitate. Get it.

OH BABY

I'm talking about cupcakes again. On a recent trip to NYC I enjoyed the pleasure of the healthier side of cupcakes and was not disappointed. Dairy free, soy free, gluten free, vegan, practically sugar free.... you'd think they'd be free of taste as well but they were so yummy, I had 2 at one sitting. I loved them so much I started talking about opening a cupcake shop right in my own town but considering I can't bake it could be a problem. I just might have to learn.

www.babycakesnyc.com

BRONZED

There are tons of bronzers out there. Nars, Stila, Smashbox. They all make one but none of them are as perfect as this one. While I use the Stila one and the Nars ones from time to time, nothing looks as natural and as glowy as the Erno Laszlo Multi-Phase bronzer. Looks as good in the winter as it does in the summer. Rain or shine, you'll glow.
www.nordstrom.com

SAVE IT

How many times have you left the coupon box blank when ordering online? I always did, until I found RetailMeNot.com. And before you think it's too much aggravation, it's not. Type in the store you want a coupon for, then enter the code on the checkout page for instant savings. Couldn't be simpler. Or more infuriating. I can't believe how many coupons I've missed out on over the years. And if you're thinking it's just for things like toilet paper and paper cups, think again. Stores like Starbuck's, Amazon, Armani Exchange, Pottery Barn, Old Navy ...the list goes on and on. Discounts, free shipping. Who doesn't like that?
www.retailmenot.com

GETTING PERSONAL

You're at a party/social event/soccer practice. You meet someone new and would love to exchange contact information. If you don't "work" you have no business card, or even if you do, you might want to keep your social life separate from your work life. You're scurrying around for a piece of paper that will inevitably get lost, or you punch in numbers in your Blackberry, which while perfectly functional is soooo not personal or stylish.  But guess what is? A calling card. A delightful little engraved card with your name, and one way of contacting you. No frills, just elegant, on good card stock. In a world of Facebook, Twitter and absurd blogs such as this one, it's nice to bring an old tradition back.
www.crane.com

WITCHY WOMAN

Last night while putting my daughter to bed she said I looked "kind of like a witch". I told her that wasn't the look I was going for and tried to change my expression and see if it made a difference. Nope. So I smiled and scrunched but apparently I was making it worse because she started hiding under her covers. Finally she came out and said she could make it better.... she put her sunglasses on me and took out my tightly pulled back ponytail. I was hopeful this was the trick but she was still disappointed and said, "it's just your face". OMG. Swallow. Try not to cry. Apparently this is how my mom felt when I asked her why everything jiggled when she ran.
Payback is not fun. CACKLE.

BYE BYE BABY

It's official. The babydoll is done. I know it's hard but it's time to move on. I remember the trend was kicking when I was pregnant with my daughter.....that was 7 years ago. Everything must come to an end and since the babydoll silhouette sort of makes you look like you're pregnant even when you're not, it's not really all that much of a loss.

HANG UP

Over the past several years I've gotten a really bad reputation as someone who never answers her phone and then never calls back even if I'm left a message. I'm not being rude, I'm trying to be polite. 

I blame it on a friend who was a mom, and I, at the time, was not. Kids weren't even on my radar so having an interrupted conversation with an adult was the norm. But every time I got on the phone with this friend she would interrupt our conversation to either talk to her kids, yell at her kids, help her kids, applaud her kids, wipe her kids, bathe her kids.... you get the idea. I would insist she just call me back another time but she would insist we keep talking (not that we ever actually got to). I tried to be supportive but I wasn't. I had no interest in hearing her kids sing their ABC's in the background and no, I didn't think it was cute when they quoted The Lion King. I just wanted off the phone. And I assume my friends feel the same way.  I never want to subject anyone, especially my friends, to me yelling obscenities or even worse, applauding a 3 year old who wants accolades for sticking out his tongue. And since I'm rarely without kids, it leaves little time for the phone. So if I don't call back, you know why. And if I do, be prepared to be abruptly hung up on if the little monsters make a peep.